A Great Day -- Random thoughts from 10-11-05

The Conference:
Faith Landmark Ministries hosted an old fashioned "Camp Meeting" where one of the guests was Ed Young from Fellowship. I'm not sure how, but I ended up on a list getting invited to one of Fellowship's Regional meetings. I looked up the location and discovered that he was speaking at 10:30 a.m. so I grabed a friend and off we went.

The conference location was a little different for me. My church background hasn't included many pentecostal churches but I always enjoy worshipping with other brothers and sisters in Christ. The church rocked! They made opening the bible feel like kickoff at a football game complete with an air horn... the people did drum rolls on their bibles... it was cool.

Ed spoke what appeared to be a collage of messages from Authority Issues to Marriage, to Kid CEO, etc. He combined them well and I took plenty of notes.

The Luncheon:
This was likely my favorite part of the day. About 70-80 people around tables and Ed Young. I loved this. He spoke for a little while on "Why" questions... I have notes I may post at some point but basically he offered up 9 questions to create creative tension.... questions to make you think as you're acting creatively. It was good.

He moved on to Q&A.
This group was pretty good with questions. There weren't too many annoying "Stupid, why are you here?" type of questions... They were mostly informed and honest.

What I walked away from most was affirmation. Some things Ed said were note worthy (all of it is, I've just learned it from he and others by now)... but for the most part I felt a sense of "right on" in my own esteem. It was as if with each answer he gave I found myself knowing what to do in these situations. This may not be a big deal for some of you but as a leader I've had to learn to trust my copetance and have confidence. At times I can be confident outwardly but be unsure on the inside. This more casual "small group" with Ed allowed me to hear truth from someone who God is using in amazing ways... truths that I shouldn't back away from.

I had the opportunity to ask Ed about loyalty. Again, his answer was clear and straight forward... when crap hits the fan, look around. Whoever has your back in the midst of garbage are the people you want around. He was also honest and opened up about his own protection mechanisms in the ministry in dealing with those who want to attack. He said that he doesn't bare his soul or personal life to anyone but those in the ministry (his Pastor friends). This was another thing that affirmed my gut. As a Pastor we wrestle with how close we are. We have to realize that people are creatures of habit and we can't bare all to the back stabbers. We have to protect our families and our ministries from people who just want to get close to control or manipulate.

I loved this honesty and transparency.

You know what else I loved? Observing his interaction with his team. You can absolutely see loyalty and love in this team. He's not "Mr. Big stuff" to them... he's Ed... the guy we love, our Pastor, our friend, our boss... Ed. I love that.

I love that he brought 3 of his 4 kids and his wife on this trip.

I love that he shared his own stories during the talks and he was honest about sin and temptation.

I love that he's comfortable in his skin.

I love that he downplays himself even though he has 9,000 Pastors who pay to take part in his conferences and Fellowship Connection.

I love that "YJC" John Cross was with him. Again I saw YJC taking care of his friend. I saw much more than a 'staff'... I saw family. Pastors should look to gain that from Ed's example... not just CEO tips or how to get to a billion attendees....

I loved the small environment. Ed doesn't have to do these meetings. He especially doesn't have to do meetings of under 100 but he knows that people like me will appreciate it and God has called him to use his voice. I appreciate that about him.

I loved the fact that he didn't try to "push" Creative Pastors or Fellowship Connection on us. This was NOT a bait and switch. In fact, you need to know that YJC wrote on a piece of scrap paper the words "Creative Pastors" which Ed got at the end and said about 10 words about it. He understands that you don't have to talk about yourself for people to buy-in. Just be you.

I learned a ton from this meeting and most of which (as you may see) wasn't in what was said.